


More than just a party

by DarveysBughead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Baby Shower, Betty still tinkers with cars, Cheryl Blossom & Betty Cooper Friendship, Drinking, Eventual Smut, F/M, FBI Betty, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Jellybean is emotionally intelligent, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pops - Freeform, Post-Time Skip, Pregnant Toni, Reconciliation, Sexual Tension, Smut, Whyte Wyrm, bughead - Freeform, serpents, writer jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarveysBughead/pseuds/DarveysBughead
Summary: When the gang are all invited home to Riverdale for Toni's baby shower, Betty and Jughead come face-to-face for the first time in six years. Can they get through a week in each other's orbit or will they crumble under the pressure of silently pining for one another?
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Fangs Fogarty/Kevin Keller
Comments: 18
Kudos: 112





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Sadly, I couldn't find a way to get Veronica into the way I was writing this, so even though I love her and she's a damn QUEEN, she's not present in this fic, I'm sorry!  
> I have written this with some of the post-time jump facts in mind, but I've also taken liberties and changed some things too. Hey, that's what fanfiction is for, right?

Jughead had been stunned when he first heard about Toni’s pregnancy. Fangs and Kevin were with her and the facetime call had come while he was in his favourite cafe, trying to write. 

“We’re having a baby!” Fangs cheered and Jughead’s brow furrowed in confusion for a moment. 

“I’m going to do the actual  _ having  _ of the baby, of course, but we’re all going to co-parent together,” Toni explained. 

“This is… wow, this is amazing. Congratulations guys.” Jughead couldn’t help the genuine smile that crossed his face when he saw how happy the three of them were. Toni had moved in with the boys when she’d broken up with Cheryl three years earlier, at the exact same time they’d moved back to Riverdale so Kevin could take up the drama teacher role at Riverdale High. Fangs was running the White Wyrm now, under Toni’s guidance as Serpent Queen.

“I know it’s unconventional, but when have we ever been conventional?” Fangs was grinning and Jughead couldn’t help grinning back, even through the surprise he was feeling. At twenty-five it made sense that his friends were beginning to really settle down. Fangs and Kevin had already been engaged for six months.  _ Guess we really are growing up,  _ he thought to himself. 

He started thinking about his own situation, and how he was feeling so stuck. He felt completely adrift. He was in a relationship he wasn’t particularly invested in, he hadn’t been able to write anything in months, he was living in a shoebox of an apartment that was a seventh floor walk-up in the Bronx and he was making the five hour ride home to Riverdale every other week, costing him a small fortune in gas for the bike. 

  
  


Fast forward four months and he’d arrived home in Riverdale, his girlfriend Jessica in tow, for the baby shower the Serpents were throwing their queen. He’d been spending more and more time in Riverdale recently and as a result had been able to spend a good amount of time with the Serpents, watching Toni get rounder and rounder as she grew with her child. He was thrilled for her and she was so looking forward to being a mother. She, Kevin and Fangs were going to be a wonderful parenting team. On his last visit to Riverdale, Jughead had helped Fangs paint the nursery in a mint green Kevin had chosen; “no child of mine will be forced into gender stereotypes”. 

He was standing in front of the house with Jessica, wondering how to explain the complication of his family to her. He hadn’t heard from Gladys since she’d left them when he was seventeen, and even when FP had died in a shootout with the newly re-formed Ghoulies five years earlier, she still hadn’t been in contact. As if losing her father hadn’t been hard enough, Jellybean was left feeling like an orphan, although Alice had formally and legally taken responsibility for her. The monarch of the Cooper family had become a saviour to the Jones siblings, and Jughead still stayed in the house on Elm Street whenever he visited home. 

“You grew up  _ here _ ?” Jessica’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the Cooper house, unchanged since his teenage years; red door and white walls seeming more imposing to an outsider.

“No. We didn’t move here until I was in Junior year. My mom bought it, then it got signed over to my dad, and after he died I guess he left it to Alice.” He shrugged and she continued to stare at the house. “C’mon,” he nudged her, starting up the stairs to the front walk. Jughead shoved his beanie onto his head and ignored the wince he caught from Jessica out of the corner of his eye. He knew she hated his beanie. 

Jellybean and Alice were waiting for them in the kitchen and rushed into the foyer as Jughead closed the door behind him, their faces lit up with twin grins. 

“You’re here!” JB squealed as she pulled her brother into a hug. Alice was shaking Jessica’s hand before briefly kissing Jughead’s cheek in a more maternal manner than he’d ever experienced from his own mother. 

“I’m glad you both could make it,” Alice said cheerily, ever the consummate hostess. “Why don’t you drop your bags off upstairs and come join us in the kitchen for some lemonade.”

“Sure, that sounds great,” Jessica said with a smile. Jughead led her upstairs, finding the door to Betty’s room open to welcome them. He had a brief thought that it was strange he still considered it Betty’s room, but was distracted by Jessica's sound of surprise.

“ _ This _ is your room?” She laughed and he looked around as if seeing it for the first time. It was a little strange that it had never been redecorated. Any photos of Betty and himself had been removed (he suspected by Alice), but everything else was the same as it had always been. Very pink, very girly. The only change was a slightly more muted set of bedding - a soft teal bedspread with a feathered pattern and powder blue sheets. It still felt exceptionally girly, but the touch of the blue made it feel slightly more acceptable. Seeing it now through Jessica’s eyes made Jughead realise how much he’d been fooling himself. 

“Uh, yeah. It’s a long story.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and he caught the look of slight exasperation that Jessica shot his way but chose to ignore it. He didn’t want to fight with her again. She’d been accusing him of being closed off for almost two years now, but they’d persisted, despite his feelings that their relationship was somewhat loveless and more out of convenience. He’d only brought her home this time because Jellybean had begged him to, wanting to meet the woman he’d been dating and living with. 

He suspected that she thought this trip was meaningful, bringing her home to his family, but at this point, he was mostly ambivalent about their relationship. They were very rarely intimate, and when they were it was always perfunctory. He’d never really enjoyed sex with her. But having  _ someone  _ was better than being alone, he’d decided, and so he persisted.

“C’mon, we should go downstairs. JB will want to ask you a million questions.” 

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to answer them,” she said under her breath but he caught it and tensed. This was beginning to feel like a mistake.

.

Jellybean was as enthusiastic as ever, asking question after question, and then talking about her own life when she realised Jessica knew little about their family. She described her apprenticeship at a restaurant in Greendale and how the long drive back and forth every day was worth it for the experience she was gaining. She was also on summer break from studying business at Highsmith College; Toni had helped her with her application given that she was a Serpent-by-birth. 

“Serpent?” Jessica asked, glancing at Jughead.

“You haven't told her about the Serpents? Jug, what do you even  _ talk  _ about?” Jellybean exclaimed. 

“I always assumed that jacket was just something you’d found in a thrift store,” Jessica commented, and Jughead had known her long enough to hear the coldness in her tone. 

“No, I, uh… I was given the jacket when Dad went…um...”

“Dad was in prison for a short time,” JB explained. Jessica’s eyes were wide as she took in the story of FP’s imprisonment, embellished by comments from Alice. Somehow they managed to tell the story of Jughead joining the Serpents without once mentioning Betty, or even stumbling over how to fill gaps in the story. He felt a surge of affection for his sister and kind-of-stepmother as they did everything they could to make him comfortable while being welcoming to the woman they believed was important to him. 

Jughead had stayed quiet through dinner, grateful to Jellybean for being so loquacious and giving him the chance to eat in silence. Between Alice and Jellybean, Jessica was being given quite the picture of Jughead’s teenage years, but thankfully they both stayed away from any mention of Betty, knowing full well that he didn’t like to talk about what had happened between them. 

“I feel like I’ve learned so much more about you tonight than in the last two years,” Jessica commented to him as they headed upstairs after dinner, Jellybean having gone out with a friend and Alice retiring for an early night. 

“They like to talk,” Jughead replied casually, trying to brush off the iciness in her tone.

“And apparently you dont.”

Jughead said nothing, unzipping his duffel and rifling through to find his plaid pyjamas. 

“Why are you wearing that thing?”

“This?” He fingered the edge of his beanie and she nodded. “I’ve had this forever. I don’t feel right being here without it.”

“Like a security blanket?” Her tone was derisive and he shrugged, watching her eyes narrow. “Why did you bring me here?” she asked. 

“Well, you’ve never been, so --”

“No, I mean why now? You’ve been here practically every week for months, so why is it only now that you invited me?”

“JB wanted to meet you.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Jessica’s eyes flashed angrily. “You didn’t want me to meet your family?”

“That’s not what I said. And I haven’t met yours,” he replied with a shrug.

“Because they’re in California and you refuse to come with me at Christmas!”

“I’m expected to be here at Christmas.”

“No, you’re not!” she exploded, “I know you weren’t here last year. Jellybean mentioned it while you were in the bathroom. She said she wishes you could come home more and that it’s sad you only get to come for Christmas every other year. I had to pretend I knew what she was talking about!”

“Jess, listen -”

“No, Jughead,  _ you  _ listen. You’ve always kept secrets. You’ve never said you love me, and this is the first time in two years that you’ve brought me home to your family. And don’t think I don’t know there’s something you’re all keeping secret. There were too many holes in everything they said tonight. So I want to know, what are we even  _ doing _ ?”

He felt all the fight drain out of him and dropped the pyjamas back into his bag. “I don’t know.”

“Do you love me?” She folded her arms and stared him down and he felt his stomach drop. He couldn’t answer. He couldn’t bear to see the look on her face when he said no, but he also knew he couldn’t lie to her. He knew, had known for a while, that he didn’t love her. He enjoyed her company and their life together was simple, but he wasn’t in love. He’d never gotten over Betty. 

“You talk about her in your sleep sometimes,” she said suddenly, as if she’d heard his thoughts.

His head snapped up. “What?”

“Betty. You say her name in your sleep. You tell her you love her. Once you begged her not to leave.”

Jughead was stunned. His head was spinning and he was frantically scrambling to come up with something to say. His entire body had gone cold, and he knew exactly what she was talking about. He dreamed about Betty regularly. He had a recurring nightmare about her walking away from him and disappearing into darkness. 

“I kept hoping that maybe you’d move past it, past  _ her _ , but she’s like a third party in our relationship. And you’ll never love me or anyone else until you can let her go.”

“Jess—”

“I know this was her room. And I can’t get into that bed with you, knowing you used to share it with her.”

“How do you… what are you talking about?” It was a last ditch effort, a poor one at that, and he knew it was pointless. Jessica just stared at him, resignation on her face.

“How I know doesn’t matter. What matters is that you never told me. She’s the secret you’ve been keeping from me, the secret you asked your family to keep from me. We can’t keep doing this, Jughead. I’m going to go back to New York tonight and move out of the apartment. You’ve got stuff you need to figure out and I can’t wait around anymore.” She picked up her bag and kissed him briefly on the cheek. “Tell your family it was nice to meet them.”

And then she was gone. He didn’t even walk her to the front door, but he heard it close with a soft click, the unmistakable sound of their rental car pulling away a minute later. 

With a heavy sigh, he threw himself onto the bed and was overwhelmed with the same memories that always visited him when he was in this bed. No matter that Alice always changed the sheets after either of them had visited, the bed always smelled like Betty. He turned his face into the comforter and took a deep breath, letting the scent of her, of their past, of their life together, fill his nostrils and overwhelm his senses. 

He missed her. He’d been missing her for six years and while it was easier to pretend when he was in New York, it was a constant longing in his soul that he knew would never fully dissipate. As was habit by now, he began to think over their breakup again.

_ It was Valentine’s Day and Jughead was in New Haven for the weekend.  _

_ They’d spent most of the weekend wrapped around one another but they both knew something was off. It was Betty who finally brought it up, as they were getting dressed to go out to get lunch. _

_ “Jug… I think we need to talk about what’s going on,” she said tentatively after pulling her sweater over her head. “Something isn’t right with us.” _

_ Jughead sighed and turned to her, running a hand through his hair as anxiety filled his chest.  _

_ “I know,” he said in a low voice. “I was hoping that if we ignored it then maybe it would go away but it hasn’t. It’s been six months.” _

_ Betty sat down on the edge of the bed, chewing on her bottom lip as she weighed up what to say next. Jughead knew she was already on the verge of tears and his stomach was churning as he wondered about the best way to say what he’d been thinking for months. He knew he’d probably have to be the one to break the silence. _

_ “This is too hard, Betts. I know I said I was over what happened between you and Archie, but I can’t stop thinking about what you’re doing all the time, whether you’ve met anyone, whether anything else might happen that’s out of your control.” _

_ “I thought you trusted me.” Her face was stricken, her eyes wide, gazing imploringly at him. “What happened with Archie was a lapse in judgement, you have to believe me.” _

_ “I did. I do.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I trust that you wouldn’t intentionally hurt me, that you wouldn’t deliberately go out looking to cheat… but I worry, constantly, what you’re doing and it’s not healthy. It’s affecting me way too much.” _

_ “I...” Betty took a deep breath, “I know. It’s been hard. It's been so hard trying to do this long distance. I trust you, I know you would never…” She sucked in another shaky breath. “You are the person I trust most in this world. But the last few months have been exhausting. I can’t help wondering where you are when you don’t answer a call, or picturing you finding someone who… I don't know... fits better with you.” Her eyes were swimming with tears and he stepped forward, taking her hands into his. _

_ “No one fits me better than you. But…” _

_ “...it’s not working,” she finished his sentence and he nodded sadly, feeling tears pricking at his eyes.  _

_ “Maybe one day we can…” _

_ “Please don’t,” she said. “Holding onto hope like that won’t help either of us.” She swallowed hard, tears falling freely down her cheeks. “If we’re going to do this, we need to make a clean break.” Her voice cracked as she finished the sentence and he couldn't help but fold her into his arms, his own tears beginning to fall too.  _

  
  


They hadn’t spoken in years. Their friends and family knew not to mention her to him, and he knew that Alice and FP had set up an unwritten schedule for when each of them would visit, and even after his father had passed away, he’d continued spending every other holiday in Riverdale with Alice and JB. The breakup had hit him incredibly hard, and when his father was killed almost a year to the day they’d broken up, he’d been completely destroyed, and had lashed out at Betty when she’d tried to be a comfort to him at the funeral. He knew next to nothing about her life now, having it made it clear to everyone that he couldn’t handle having her in his life anymore. 

His years at college had been the hardest. He’d studied and written and kept to himself, giving in to the crippling loneliness that she’d saved him from in their youth. The serpents were so far away, Archie even more so, and he had no one to pull him out of the deep rut he fell into. By the end of his four years in Iowa, he’d filled hundreds of pages with words about her, about their past and their never-to-be-seen future. And when he moved to New York he published a book of prose under a pseudonym, filled with handpicked passages about the love he’d lost. He’d titled it in a kind of code, knowing that only she would ever know what it meant, but similarly knowing that it was unlikely she’d ever see it.

A year later he’d finally published his Jason Blossom novel and with it out of the way, he was free to start on something new. The only problem was that he had no idea where to start. 

Jessica had been nagging at him for a few months now, pushing him to write  _ something _ but everything he put onto paper seemed trite and cliche. He didn’t know where the next original story was. Everything seemed like a re-hashing of a story that had already been told. 

He groaned aloud as he stood up again, reaching for his pyjamas and pulling them on before sliding into the bed, exhaustion pulling him under. 

.

The next day he had to explain to Alice and JB that Jessica had left, and was glad to have slept in and to have the day to himself while they were both at work before having that conversation with them. 

He stared at a blank document on his laptop for almost an hour in the living room, before taking it upstairs and settling onto the window seat in Betty’s room. He’d spent hours writing there in his teenage years and it was only minutes before inspiration came in the form of a memory; eighteen year old Betty studying for finals, the sun shining through the window and lighting her up like a beacon, her hair gleaming and her skin bronzed in the light. He began to tap at the keys, words flowing out of him. It wasn’t going to be the makings of a novel, but at least his creative juices were flowing. 

It was almost six when Alice arrived home and Jughead trudged downstairs to greet her and give her the news.

“She seemed such a nice girl, Forsythe,” Alice said, upon hearing what had happened and Jughead fought back the eye roll that threatened to respond on his behalf to Alice’s use of his given name.

“She wasn’t the right one for me,” he shrugged, but he caught the look that flashed across Alice’s face. Thankfully, he was saved by the doorbell and Alice strode off to answer it. 

“Sorry about your girl, Jug.” JB piped up from her position on the couch.

“It’s really okay. I think I knew it wasn’t the right relationship for me.”

“And what  _ is  _ the right relationship for you?” JB’s gaze was too intense, too knowing and Jughead shifted uncomfortably. 

“Guest for you,” Alice said as she returned to the kitchen and Jughead looked up to see a familiar redhead trailing behind her. 

“Arch! Hey.” Jughead pulled his old friend into a hug.

“Hey bro. I wanted to come by and meet Jessica.”

“Oh. Well, she broke up with me. She’s gone back to New York.”

“Sorry dude, that sucks. Want to go get a burger?”

“Yeah. You driving?”

“Sure.” 

Archie and Jughead had reconciled fairly quickly after the ill-fated kiss, and had stayed in contact throughout the intervening years, their brotherly relationship withstanding everything, including the distance college had created. As they piled into Archie’s truck, Jughead remembered the distraught call he’d made to his friend after he and Betty had broken up, a stark difference to the way he was reacting to his breakup with Jessica. 

_ “Hey Jug, I thought you were visiting Betty this weekend.” _

_ Jughead took a ragged breath, trying to control his emotions enough to speak. “I was,” he managed to croak.  _

_ “Dude, you sound weird, are you okay?” _

_ “We broke up.” _

_ Archie was silent for a moment. “Woah.” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ “I thought you guys would be… well, you know.” _

_ “I know. So did we.” He was crying by this time, his heart feeling like it was turning to dust in his chest. Worse than the pain in his heart, however, was the pain he felt when he thought about how Betty would be feeling. “Can you call Betty? Check on her? Just make sure she’s okay.” _

_ “Sure, dude. But are  _ you  _ okay?” _

_ Jughead took in a shaky breath. “Not even close.” _

_ They’d stayed on the phone together for an hour, not saying a word, just a friend being there for a man who was quietly falling apart. _

.

They were seated in their old favourite booth, having scoffed down burgers and fries, the dregs of their milkshakes melted in the glasses on the table in front of them. 

“So what happened with Jessica?” Archie asked eventually, having skirted around the subject all night. “You don’t seem too torn up about it.”

Jughead sighed. “It wasn’t right. It never really was, but it was comfortable enough so we ignored the problems. I think being here just highlighted it and we couldn’t ignore it anymore.”

“Why wasn’t it right?” 

“I didn’t love her.”

“So? Dude, I've dated a ton of girls and haven’t loved any of them!”

“Arch, it’s not that simple for me.” 

“Sure it is. Have you been on Tinder? It’s awesome!”

Jughead contemplated how to explain his sexual identity, whether Archie would understand it. He suspected not, given the redhead’s well-documented promiscuity, but he decided to give it a go. He took a deep breath to steel himself before launching into his explanation.

“Okay, look. I don’t feel the same way you do about girls. I don’t want to sleep with just anyone.”

“Woah, are you coming out to me right now?”

“For god's sake, Archie, no. Just listen, would you? There’s a term for it: demisexual. It means I only feel sexual attraction after establishing an emotional connection.”

“Does that mean you don’t… jerk off?” Archie seemed scandalised and Jughead rolled his eyes in frustration.

“You’re completely missing the point.” Dimly he registered the sound of the bell as the door opened and closed behind him, but he was preoccupied with trying to make Archie understand what he was saying. 

And then Archie’s eyes went wide. “Betty!” He called out and Jughead felt himself freeze. She was here? Why?

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. Betty approached the table, her shoes tapping against the linoleum floor before she stopped by their booth. Archie had leapt up to hug her and Jughead took the chance to observe her. 

Her hair was longer, flowing gently over her shoulders, a stark contrast to the black t-shirt dress she wore. He’d rarely seen her in black in their younger years, unless it was an ominous occasion, like a funeral or a serpent mission. But the colour and style suited her, dipping in slightly at the curve of her waist before falling to a flattering knee length. She was wearing gold sandals and her toenails were painted a pearly pink. These were more the Betty he’d known. He had a flash of nostalgia and his heart ached for the innocence of their youth, before life had gotten in the way. It had been a long time since he’d been as happy and carefree as he’d been with her; even despite mysteries and serial killer fathers and drug lord mothers, they’d been happy. He didn’t feel that way anymore.

Archie sat back down at the table and Betty turned the full force of her gaze to her ex-boyfriend.

“Hi Juggie,” she said softly and his heart felt like it was being crushed under the pressure of everything he was feeling. 

“Hey, Betts.”


	2. The Middle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another reminder that unfortunately I couldn't get Veronica into this fic, I just couldn't find a way to work her in. Almost all the rest of the characters are there though, so please don't be offended by her absence, I still think she's a total QUEEN

His beanie was still in place. That was the first thing she noticed. She’d noticed it even before she’d entered the diner, spotting his form through the window, a silhouette she was so familiar with, even after all these years.

Archie, for once in his life, had picked up on social cues and had left them alone almost as soon as they’d greeted one another, sliding out of the booth and letting Betty take his place. Pop had taken her order immediately, and then they were really alone together, for the first time in more than six years. 

“You look good,” Jughead said after a few moments of awkward silence. She felt warm as the sound of his voice washed over her, that deep timbre she’d always loved. 

“Thank you. So do you.” She felt shy, off balance, unsure of herself. She’d wallowed in their breakup for almost two years before finally beginning to move on, and for four years now she’d been pushing herself to be confident and move forward into her future until it slowly became her present. Now she was back in that hole of insecurity she’d fought so hard to claw her way out of and she knew that she’d never really moved on. She’d just pretended she had. She could feel her fingers beginning to curl into her palms and she forced herself to flatten them against her thighs, counting her breaths to calm her anxieties.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” he said, “Toni implied…”

“Originally I didn’t think I’d be able to make it but Kevin begged me to come so it was a bit of a last minute plan.” It was half a lie. She had initially said she couldn’t make it, but a week earlier she’d carefully orchestrated this visit, and Kevin had been thrilled. She’d assumed that Jughead Had would be there, but hadn’t been certain until Alice had mentioned that Betty might want to stay at Thistlehouse with Polly, Cheryl and the twins. She hadn’t said Jughead’s name, knowing well enough at this point not to bring him up, but Betty had read between the lines. It made sense he’d be there, with Fangs and Toni being so important to him. 

“A heads up would have been nice,” Jughead mumbled and Betty was taken aback. Her face flushed and she bit back the angry retort on her tongue. 

“That’s a little unfair, Jug,” she said slowly and he shook his head. 

They’d successfully kept to a schedule for visiting and holidays so they’d never had to run into one another, Alice having seen how hard the breakup was on Betty and helping wherever she could. Betty suspected that her mother’s motives weren’t entirely altruistic, but she was so grateful for the assistance that she never thought too hard about it. She’d barely even heard his name in five years, knowing almost nothing about what he’d been doing, other than having published his books. The Boy in the River had been published the previous year and she hadn’t been able to stop herself buying a copy and devouring it in a matter of days. She’d fallen into a mild depression for a while afterward, mourning what could have been and feeling the loss of her childhood all over again. But the real heartbreak had come only a month ago; she’d stumbled upon a book of prose and short stories titled “Frosty Pyjamas” and had known instantly that it was his, despite the nom de plume he’d used. She’d pored over the words, seeing their relationship in every sentence and it had spurred her into wanting to see him. She’d made the arrangements to come home, lying to Kevin and her mom about the week suddenly being freed up. 

“They should have told me,” Jughead grumbled. She knew he was backpedalling - blaming it on their friends instead of being honest about how he felt. She still knew him so well and it stung deeply. 

“I’m staying with Polly and Cheryl,” was all she said in response, watching his face for the flash of understanding she knew was coming. She wasn’t disappointed. He nodded curtly and picked up his coffee cup, draining it and setting it back down to be refilled by Pop, who had just set Betty’s milkshake and onion rings in front of her. 

“You still drink vanilla milkshakes,” Jughead said as she sipped from it. 

“Some things never change,” she said, flushing a little at the hidden meaning behind her words, hoping he didn’t pick up on it. 

“And some things do,” he replied cryptically. 

Another silence fell and she chewed slowly on her onion rings, studying him as he stared into his coffee cup.

He looked the same. His hair was still unruly, a curl falling over his forehead from under his beanie. He was still wearing his Serpent jacket over his signature S t-shirt. His fingers were still adorned with chunky silver rings and as she looked at his hands she suddenly had a flashback to exactly what those digits could do and her stomach flipped over. 

“You still have your beanie,” she said casually, willing her thoughts away. 

“I mostly only wear it when I’m here. I just don’t feel right in Riverdale without it.” 

A brief silence fell and Betty ate another onion ring, the silence feeling foreign between them. Even after they’d broken up, there had never been uncomfortable silences. They’d just… ended. Sure, there had been the big blow up when FP died, but even that had been better than this awkward silence. 

“When did you get to town?” His words jolted her out of her ruminations.

“Pretty much now,” she answered with a wry grin. “That’s my car.” She pointed out her powder blue 1946 Ford Deluxe and Jughead’s eyes widened. 

“That’s yours? Wow. It’s beautiful.”

“I know. I built the engine from scratch.”

“That’s incredible, Betts.” He seemed to be thawing a little, easing into the conversation. “Still good with cars, huh?”

“Yeah, You could say that,” she chuckled. “Have you still got your bike?”

“Yup. It’s still my main form of transportation. Well, I use the subway a lot in New York, but the bike gets enough use still. I don’t have it with me this week though.”

“You’re in New York now? That’s awesome.”

“Yeah. I come home a lot though. For some reason it’s easier to write in Riverdale.”

“Speaking of writing, uh… I read your book,” she said, fidgeting with the straw in her almost empty milkshake. 

“You did? Did you think I did Jason justice?” His question threw her, but of course he wouldn’t know she’d read his first book, written under a pseudonym and only minimally published. And he certainly wouldn’t expect her to have read it. Of course he assumes she’s talking about the book that made it to the New York Times bestseller list. 

She had a split second to decide how to play it. “Yeah. It’s amazing, Jug. You told his story with respect, and you used enough truth to keep the integrity of it, but added enough fabrication to make it even more compelling than it was as it happened.”

“Thanks, Betts. That means a lot.” He was blushing slightly, two light spots of colour on his cheeks and she felt a clench in her abdomen. She’d missed him, more than she’d ever been able to admit to herself. “So, uh, what about you? Where are you living? And working?”

“I’m in DC now. I made it into the FBI. I’m an investigative analyst with a specialism in profiling.”

Jughead gaped at her. “Betty! That’s amazing. It’s what you always wanted.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” She shrugged, not ready to go into any more detail while they were barely civil yet. 

“You drove all the way up from DC today?”

“Yeah. I could have flown but I wanted to drive. I needed the time to think.”

“Ah.” He nodded in understanding and another silence fell. 

“I guess we knew this would happen eventually. It was either going to be this week or at Fangs and Kevin’s wedding.” She chewed on her lip, hating the distance between them, the awkwardness, the silence. 

“I feel like we’re strangers,” Jughead said, almost as if she hadn’t spoken. “We don’t know each other anymore.”

The words were hard to hear, but she knew he was right. A lot had changed since their separation and she wasn’t even sure who she was anymore, so how could she expect him to be the same? Nevertheless her heart ached with his words and she suddenly couldn’t wait to get out of there, out of the booth she’d spent countless hours in as a teenager, out of the place she’d felt most comfortable and safe growing up. 

“Do you want a ride home?” she asked, reaching for her bag. 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

They rode in Betty’s car in silence back to Elm Street. When she pulled up in front of their home he climbed out with a brief goodbye, but they were thwarted by Alice having spotted Betty’s car through the window and dashing out onto the street.

“Oh good, you two have caught up. Elizabeth, come inside for some tea.”

“Mom, I really need to get over to Polly’s. The twins will be in bed soon and she wanted me there before that.”

“You’ll be there in plenty of time. Now come inside, please.” Alice’s tone left no room for argument so Betty sighed heavily and turned off the engine, climbing gracefully out of the car. 

Jughead made an excuse about needing to write and fled upstairs, leaving Betty in the kitchen with Alice.

“Did you two talk?” Alice asked gently.

“Kind of. We didn’t cover much, but no one yelled or cried, so that’s a start.”

“That’s good, honey. You’re both adults and you know how important this is to Kevin, Fangs and Toni.” There was a thinly veiled threat in Alice’s words and Betty almost found herself grinning. Despite all her faults, Alice Smith was comfortingly predictable.

“I’m really glad to be here,” Betty said seriously, looking up at her mother. They both smiled happily as Alice returned the sentiment.

“Now, what sort of tea would you like?”

.

Betty rang the doorbell at Thistlehouse, hoping the twins hadn’t gone to bed yet and that she wouldn’t have to deal with Polly’s wrath. It was only 8pm, after all.

“Cousin Betty! Welcome.” Cheryl was smiling widely as she opened the door and Betty was genuinely glad to see her. They hugged one another hard and Betty let out a contented sigh. She’d grown much closer with her cousin since their high school years, and Cheryl was the first person she’d called when she broke up with Jughead; in return she was the first person to hear about Cheryl and Toni’s break up too. 

_ “Hey Cher,” she greeted after picking up a call during her lunch break. She was met with silence and then juddering sobs. “Cheryl? What’s wrong?” _

_ “It’s Toni… we… I…” _

_ “Oh, honey.” Betty knew that sound of heartache. It was the same way she’d called Cheryl three years earlier. “What happened?” _

_ “It just fell apart. We’ve been fighting so much and we…” _

_ Betty was able to fill in the blanks. She knew they’d been having problems but she’d never dreamed they’d end the relationship.  _

_ “I’m so sorry, Cher. What can I do?” _

_ “Can you come? Can you get here?” _

_ Betty listened to the sobbing on the other end of the phone and did some quick scheduling, deciding she could make it to Riverdale for two nights.  _

_ “I’ll come tonight. I’ve got class until four and I’ll leave right after. Is Polly with you?” _

_ “She and the twins are with your mom. I didn’t want the kids to see me like this.” _

_ “Okay. I’ll be there around nine as long as traffic isn’t bad.” _

They’d spent two days eating ice cream and drinking wine coolers, crying together and commiserating about the perils of being in a relationship with a serpent. 

She was now one of the dearest friendships in Betty’s life. 

“Hi Cher. Are the twins still up?”

“Just barely. Polly was sending them to clean their teeth when you rang the bell.” 

“She demanded I be here before they went to sleep but I was hijacked by my mom.”

“You went by the house first?”

“I didn’t mean to. I stopped at Pops and Jughead was there. I dropped him off afterward.”

Cheryl’s eyebrows had risen practically into her hairline. She didn’t even need to say anything and Betty knew. 

“I’ll tell you about it all, I promise. But I need to see the kids before they go to bed.” She dropped her bag by the door and ran upstairs to the twins’ room. “Hi babies!” she called and the twins yelled happily and threw themselves on her. 

“You made it,” Polly said as she caught sight of her sister. 

“Took a small detour. I’ll tell you all about it later.” 

She helped Polly put the twins to bed, kissing their foreheads and promising to help them with their homework the next night, before heading back downstairs to a bowl of pretzels, a glass of white wine and a grinning Cheryl. 

“Give me a minute to down this,” she said to her cousin, taking a large sip of the wine, feeling Cheryl’s eyes on her, waiting her out. 

“Polly dearest, please tell your sister to start her tale of woe before I combust.”

“I’m getting there!” Betty took another gulp from her wine glass. 

Cheryl topped the glass up as quickly as Betty had emptied it, and with the alcohol beginning to work it’s way into her bloodstream, she took a deep breath and began to talk.

“Jughead was at Pops with Archie. I’d stopped for a milkshake just to drink on the way over here, but Archie said hi and I ended up sitting in the booth with Jughead, just the two of us.”

“Oh my god, Betty!” Polly squealed.

“It was awkward, Pol, don’t get too excited.”

Polly had been pushing Betty to call Jughead for years, desperate to see her sister happy.

“What did you talk about?”

“Not much, honestly. He said we were strangers, that we don’t know one another anymore.” She took another gulp of wine. “It hurt like hell, I have to admit, but he’s not wrong.”

“Oh, Betty, I’m sorry.” Polly put her arm around Betty’s shoulders. 

“Best to get the awkwardness out of the way before the baby shower,” Cheryl said sensibly. 

“It was so uncomfortable,” Betty groaned. “But all I wanted to do was touch him. He was right there and I just wanted…”

“You’ve never gotten over him, Betty.”

“Polly…” Cheryl warned softly. 

“You’ve always held onto him. There’s a reason you haven’t gotten serious with anyone since him.”

“Polly, stop,” Cheryl said.

“No, she needs to hear this! He’s her soulmate, just like Jason was mine and she’ll never be fully happy until she admits that.”

“That’s enough,” Cheryl said firmly, seeing the tears gathering in Betty’s eyes. “Polly, dearest, can you give us a moment?”

“Did I do something wrong?” 

“No, mon Cherie,” Cheryl reassured, “I just need to speak to Betty for a moment. I’ll come and see you later, okay?”

Even after Polly had been released from Shady Grove treatment center, she still had some residual issues that would likely never be completely resolved. She often had trouble with social cues and with knowing the right thing to say, almost as if she was on the autistic spectrum. Her doctors had confirmed she would likely always be that way, the brainwashing and other “treatments” at the farm having changed her brain chemistry. She was a wonderful mother to the twins, had a job as a clerk at the Riverdale post office, and for the most part had no lasting deficits, just the occasional social faux pas. Living with Cheryl had been Polly’s own idea, wanting the twins to know their Blossom roots, with the added bonus of having someone around to help her when she needed it. 

“I’m okay, Pol. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Betty confirmed, blinking back tears as she focused on her sister.

“I’ll go read in bed,” Polly said anxiously, wringing her hands as she left the room. 

“I should make sure she’s okay,” Betty started to get up but Cheryl stopped her.

“It’s okay. She usually comes to it on her own after a touch of reflection. She’ll be alright. You, however, I’m worried about.”

“I’m okay, Cher.”

“No, you’re not. So talk to me.”

Cheryl had grown softer after the pressures of high school had lifted. She was still looking after Nana Rose and the twins until Polly came home during their third year of college, but leaving high school had mellowed her out significantly and Betty often wondered if that had been a catalyst for her break up with Toni; the removal of her hard-as-nails exterior changing her in a way that Toni didn’t recognise. 

“I’ve avoided him for so long. And suddenly I was just thrown into a booth at Pops with him and it was like we’d gone back in time. Polly’s right, I have always held onto him, only I didn’t realise it until tonight. He’s always been there in the back of my mind, a comparison to everyone else.” 

“Did you tell him that?”

“Of course not!”

“Maybe you should.”

“You should know better than anyone that it isn’t that simple.”

Cheryl nodded. “Did you tell him you read the book?”

“I did, but he thought I meant Jason’s book. And I didn’t correct him.”

“Betty!”

“I know, okay? It just didn’t feel right. I felt like he was so far removed from me that bringing it up would only send him running.”

“Okay,” Cheryl sighs. “We need a plan.”

“No,” Betty said. “No, we very much do  _ not  _ need a plan.”

“Betty, darling, we need to get you your beau back. I know it, you know it, Polly knows it. Even your mom knows it. So tomorrow night, we’re drinking. We’re going to the Whyte Wyrm and you’re going to get another chance to talk to him, preferably when both of you are suitably tipsy and more open to possibility.”

“We can’t go to the Wyrm. Toni will be there.”

“Toni and I are… civil. There won’t be any problems.”

Betty cocked her head. “Civil?”

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “We may have hung out once or twice. Strictly platonic, I swear.”

“Cheryl! I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this from me.”

“That’s neither here nor there. What’s important is getting you and Jughead talking again.”

.

The following night, Jughead was relaxing against the bar, drink in hand, calmly observing the crowd when he caught sight of the door opening and suddenly it felt like all the air had been sucked from the room. Betty, flanked by her sister and Cheryl, was striding into the Whyte Wyrm of all places. 

She hadn’t spotted him and so he watched as a boisterous shout rang out and Kevin scrambled out of his booth to embrace his dear friend. Cheryl looked put-out by the display, but Jughead caught the pleased half-smile that crossed her face when Kevin greeted her and kissed her cheek. 

Toni and Fangs had ambled over and Jughead watched with interest to see how Cheryl and Toni reacted to one another. If he’d been looking for drama he’d have been disappointed because of course Cheryl gave nothing away, greeting Toni casually, as if she were simply another acquaintance. 

“Jug?” He was shaken from his thoughts by Jellybean who had sidled up next to him. 

“Hey kid.”

“Not a kid,” she grumbled, as she did every time he called her that, but she carried on speaking anyway. “Listen, I need to make sure you and Betty aren’t going to ruin this weekend. It’s so important to them, and your drama can’t get in the way of that. Not like it did at dad’s funeral.”

“JB…” Jughead said warningly.

“No, Jug, don’t. You made that day about the two of you, and I know you were hurting, and it was a lot, but you can’t do that again this time.”

“I’m not going to, I swear. It’s different now.”

“Because you’ve moved on?” There was a twinkle in JB’s eye and a teasing note to her tone and Jughead pulled a face. 

“Shut up, idiot.” He bumped his shoulder against hers and she laughed, heading over to the rest of the group and leaving him alone to mull over the memories of his behaviour at his father’s funeral.

  
  


_ He was standing in the kitchen of the Cooper house when the door opened and Betty walked in. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him at first, the result of several sleepless nights, but as he watched Alice embrace her daughter he realised it was really her.  _

_ “What is she doing here?” he asked JB quietly. _

_ “She has every right to be here, Jug.” _

_ “You should have told me she was coming,” he snapped, striding out the the back door of the house and through the garage, straddling his bike and roaring away up the street.  _

_ He’d stayed in the apartment above the White Wyrm, but he hadn’t slept, drinking himself into a stupor as a way to encourage sleep. It hadn’t worked, instead resulting in him falling over a stool in the bar as he’d gone to get another bottle of liquor. When he’d decided to sober up he began to feel a dull ache in his cheek, eventually realising he’d bruised his face when he’d fallen, and the skin was rapidly turning purple. _

_ “Fuck,” he growled at his reflection, prodding the skin and hissing at the pain that radiated, even in his still-tipsy state. His phone vibrated with a text from JB. _

“We’re leaving for the ceremony at 12, please be here by 11.30”

_ He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. It was already 11 and he still needed to shower.  _

_ When he arrived at the Cooper house, it was a flurry of activity, Alice marching around the place instructing decorators and caterers on the arrangements for the wake,  _

_ “Juggie? Are you okay?” Betty gasped from the stairs and he looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time in a year. An eternity passed as they stared at one another, but in reality was only a few seconds.  _

_ Betty snapped out of it first, hurrying toward him, her hand reaching for his face. “What happened?” _

_ “I’m fine,” he said stiffly, stepping away from her touch.  _

_ “Are you… drunk?” _

_ “Is it any of your business if I am?” _

_ “Jug…” _

_ “We have nothing to say to one another,” he snarled, stepping further away from her. “If JB is looking for me, I’ll be outside.” _

_ He’d chain smoked three cigarettes in front of the house, waiting for the car to arrive to transport them to the graveyard.  _

_ When she’d stood next to her mother in the front row, however, he’d lost his cool.  _

_ “I need to speak to you,” he hissed angrily, wrapping his hand around her wrist and dragging her away and behind a large tree. “What do you think you’re doing?” _

_ “What are you talking about?” _

_ “Why are you even here? I don’t need you! I haven’t needed you in a year, and you have no business showing up here for this.” _

_ Her eyes had flashed angrily. “I’m here for my  _ mom _ , Jughead. She needs support right now. He was the love of her life.” _

_ The words had hit him harder than expected, even through the haze of the whiskey, and he’d lashed out, covering his hurt with anger. _

_ “That phrase doesn’t mean shit, and you should know it better than anyone. Now get out of my face before I do something I regret.” _

_ “Stop this, Jughead. We’re all dealing with our own pain today and we need to just get through it the best we can.” _

_ “Don’t talk about pain like you know what I’m going through. My father is  _ dead _.” _

_ She’d gaped at him, another flash of anger showing in her eyes.  _

_ “So is mine, in case you forgot.” _

_ “Your dad was a fucking monster and deserved what he got,” he’d spat.  _

_ “Stop this now!” Alice had shouted then. They hadn’t seen her approach and both jumped with the shock of it. Alice had tears in her eyes and Jellybean by her side and both were angry. “This is not the place or the time for such childish behaviour. If you two can’t be civil, one of you will have to leave.” Her threat was empty but Jughead had scoffed and walked away. _

_ “Fuck this, I’ll go.” _

_ He’d hopped on his bike and left town, missing the funeral and the wake, coming back a month later and breaking down by his father’s grave, where Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni had found him, bringing him back to the Whyte Wyrm and sitting with him late into the night, reminiscing about his father. He later found out the bar had been purchased by FP years earlier and left to Jughead in his will, including an apartment above the bar.  _

He surveyed the bar, relishing in the feeling of belonging that always came upon him when he was there. He had Toni and Fangs running the place for him, but it never diminished the sense of ownership he had over it. More than once he’d considered selling it, using the money to buy a better place in New York, but he couldn’t part with it, needing the connection to the town and the serpents to keep him grounded. Even if it was sometimes more trouble than it was worth; like when the roof needed repairs, or the exterior walls had been vandalised again. 

As he looked around, he couldn’t help that his eyes went back to Betty, dancing in the middle of the floor, looking every bit like she belonged there.

She was incredibly sexy and he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she danced, twirling and laughing with Kevin, Toni and JB. He was boiling over with jealousy, wanting to be the one whose hands were on her waist like Toni’s were, wanting to be laughing and kissing her cheek like Kevin was. He watched them angrily, aware that he was exuding a lot of negative energy, seeing the way people gave him a wide berth, but he was also buzzing with arousal as he observed the way her body moved in the skin-tight silver dress she’d no doubt borrowed from Cheryl. 

“Fucking hell, Jones, get it together,” he growled under his breath, tossing back the rest of his whiskey and turning back to the bar to order another. 

“Hey Juggie.” Her voice startled him as she materialised at his side, her hair shining under the lights and her skin glistening with sweat. He wanted to lick her. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from her cleavage, the deep V of her dress tempting him in the most devilish of ways.

“Hey Betts. Having fun?”

“Tons.” She was grinning happily, lit up from within and he longed to touch her, kiss her, draw her into his body. This was the woman he’d been missing for years. Happy, smiling, glowing. The entire bar seemed brighter just for having her in it and he was struck by how dark he’d gotten without her light to balance him out. They’d always been the ying to one another’s yang and having her by his side suddenly illuminated his darkness.

“Are  _ you _ having fun?” she asked and he found himself shrugging nonchalantly. 

“It’s just a normal night at the Wyrm.”

She looked as if he’d slapped her, but schooled her expression so quickly that he might have missed it if he didn’t know her the way he did.  _ Or used to _ , his subconscious whispered nastily. 

“Cher and Toni seem to be getting along again, finally.”

“Good for them.” Jughead knew he was being belligerent, he knew he wasn’t behaving the way Betty was wanting him to, and he wasn’t behaving the way even  _ he  _ wanted to. But his brain and his body seemed to be disconnected; he couldn’t seem to reconcile the way his body ached for her and his mind missed her with the way his mouth couldn’t articulate it. 

There was an awkward silence for a moment and he turned to look at her, seeing her disappointment all over her face. He knew she was trying to make the best of a bad situation, but in the same manner as he had reacted at his father’s funeral, his pain and emotional anguish were getting in the way. 

He sighed heavily and turned to face Betty fully. “You look beautiful,” he said ruefully, “but I can’t do this right now.” He walked away, heading straight upstairs to his apartment, locking himself in and groaning aloud as he fell onto the couch. 

“I’m a fucking idiot.”

.

The Cooper house was being used for the party, as it had the biggest yard of any of their friends, and Alice had taken her role as host incredibly seriously. She’d set everyone to task. Betty had helped set up for the party, avoiding Jughead as she set up the food and giving advice to Jellybean and Toni’s nana about the decorations. Fangs and Jughead had done the liquor store run, and were filling buckets and tubs with ice and drinks in the yard and setting up tables and chairs on the lawn. Kevin was with Toni, picking up the cake. 

Sweet Pea fired up the grill mere minutes before guests started arriving, and within the hour the party was in full swing. Most of Riverdale was in attendance, along with many friends from out of town. Betty had been thrilled to see a number of childhood friends and acquaintances and had spent the afternoon flitting from group to group, catching up with the people she hadn’t seen in years. 

“Girl, you have been avoiding me all afternoon and I’m putting a stop to it right now.”

She’d just stepped away from Attorney McCoy and Josie when she heard Kevin’s voice, turning to hug him. “Hey, Kev.” She grinned and kissed his cheek. “I’m not avoiding you. I've just been catching up with everyone! But I’m so glad I’m here for this.”

“ _ We _ need to catch up, we didn’t get nearly enough time to talk last night and you ran out so quickly. Now come with me and give me your undivided attention.” He led her upstairs to her old bedroom and flopped onto the bed, crossing his ankles in the air behind him. “So. Jughead is here and so are you. This is… unprecedented.”

“I know.” She bit her lip. “He’s actually staying here, I’m with Polly and the kids at Thistlehouse.”

“Wait. He’s staying here? As in, in this room?”

“Yeah. We, uh, we take turns visiting and he stays here to get as much time as possible with JB. I guess we never really stopped sharing this room, we’re just never in it at the same time.”

“Jesus, Betty. That’s messed up, you know?”

“Everything with him and I is messed up, Kev. It’s always been messed up.” She sighed heavily, feeling the weight of the past few days settling in her chest. 

“Have you talked to him?”

“Briefly. It was... weird.”

“Is that why you ran out last night?”

“Kind of. I saw him at Pops when I got into town and he said we're strangers. That we don’t know each other anymore. And he’s right, but it hurt like hell. And then last night at the bar, I tried to talk to him, get him to open up but… I miss him, Kev. I’ve been missing him for years and I can’t tell him. We’re not in that place anymore and I don’t know what his life is now. He could be  _ married  _ and I wouldn’t know. I just —” she buried her head in her hands, groaning in frustration. “What the hell was I thinking six years ago when we broke up? I should have fought for us. I shouldn’t have… ugh this  _ sucks _ .” She dropped her head into her hands. 

“Betty Cooper, you have it  _ bad _ .”

“I know. I know I do. And I have no fucking idea what the hell I’m going to do about it.”

“I can get some intel. Fangs will have the full Jughead Jones scoop.”

“No! No, please don’t. I feel like I’d be betraying his trust. I just… we’re not in that place anymore. He’s made that clear. After the wedding we can go back to visiting one at a time and I won’t have to see him again and I can try to move on, finally.”

Kevin grimaced slightly and Betty’s eyes narrowed. “What, Kev? What’s that face for?”

“Well, this might put a wrench in that plan but.. will you be the baby’s godmother?”

“Kev!” Betty’s face split into an enormous grin. “Of course I will!” She threw herself on him in a hug but a moment later it hit her and she pulled away, scowling. “He’s going to be godfather, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is. He and Sweets both. We all chose a godparent.”

“Fuck,” Betty groaned. “So what you’re saying is that we’re going to be forced together at every single birthday and big event for the entirety of this child’s life?”

“Sorry,” Kevin said, but he was smiling and Betty couldn’t help but slap his chest lightly. 

“You’re not sorry at all, you jerk.”

A knock at the door interrupted them. 

“Kevin, babe? We’re ready to cut the cake!” Fangs called to them.

“Coming!” Kevin replied, scrambling off the bed and grabbing Betty’s hands. “C’mon, this is the most exciting part.”

They’d decided to reveal the sex of the baby at the shower, not wanting to bring everyone into town for two separate parties, and true to their views on not wanting to bring up their child in a heteronormative world, they had decided a rainbow layer cake would indicate the baby was biologically male, and a funfetti cake would indicate female. There would be no blue and pink gender stereotypes in this family! 

The cake was yellow iced, with a fondant rainbow on top and Toni was standing proudly next to it, one hand on her bump, looking so content and happy that it almost hurt to look at her. 

“Godparents, come on up here please!” Fangs called happily, and Betty took up her position next to Kevin, watching as Sweetpea and Jughead stood with Fangs and Toni respectively. Jughead was scowling at Toni and Betty suspected that he hadn’t been given the same heads up that she had and was taken by surprise at the idea of them being co-godparents.

The parents-to-be each made a speech, thanking friends and family for attending, thanking Alice for hosting and talking about how excited they were to start their lives as a family unit. 

The three of them managed to wrap their hands around the cake knife together, cutting a thick slice and pulling it out of the cake to reveal funfetti. 

“A daughter!” Toni cheered happily, hugging Fangs and Kevin, the boys sharing a brief kiss amid all their smiles. Betty grinned happily at their joy, ecstatic for them despite her own inner turmoil. 

Later, she was by the drinks table, pouring another glass of punch when Jughead approached her.

“So, godparents, huh?”

“Oh. Yeah.” She turned to face him. “Kev told me five minutes before the cake cutting.”

“Toni did the same to me. Apparently Fangs told Sweet Pea six weeks ago.”

“Typical,” Betty chuckled. 

“Look, Betts, I’m sorry about last night. It… wasn’t my finest hour.”

Betty flushed, looking down at her feet. “It’s okay, Jug.”

“No, it’s not. I was rude and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” 

A silence fell between them and then Betty’s eyes landed across the yard and she cocked her head in confusion.

“Is Archie with...  _ Josie _ ?”

Jughead looked over and then nodded. “Oh, yeah, he is. They’ve been together over a year now. They reconnected when she joined the staff at a Riverdale High.”

“Well, he did always have a thing for music teachers,” she said, and then slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as she realised what she’d said.

Jughead’s lips twitched slightly before breaking into a full smile as he burst into laughter.

“I’ve missed your sass, Betty Cooper.”

Her own smile took longer to appear, given the surprise she felt at his easy admission, but it spread across her face, matching his. 

“You two are laughing together? That seems like a good sign.” Jellybean said as she joined them. 

“Shut up, JB,” Jughead said affectionately, but he grinned at his sister nonetheless. 

Betty smiled, deciding to go say hi to Archie and Josie, leaving the Jones siblings by the punch table.

“So, you two are talking again?” Jellybean asks.

“We’re… I don’t know. We haven’t talked much, this was the first time that it was… easier.”

“Well, you’re both godparents now, so you’re going to be seeing more of each other.”

“I know,” he groaned, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. “More of this emotional anguish. Wonderful.”

“Anguish?” Jellybean’s eyes sparkled. 

“Oh, c’mon, kid, you know this is really fucking hard for me.”

“It’s no picnic for her, either,” Jellybean said softly. Jughead met her gaze and she cocked her head at him, silently telling him he was being selfish. He groaned and then nodded. “God, you’re right, I know, I’m a jerk.”

“You’re not a jerk, Jug, you’re just… heartbroken.”

The siblings stared at one another for a minute and then Jughead grinned.

“When did you get so smart?”

“I’ve always been smarter than you, big brother. You’re just only realising it now.”


	3. The End and the New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last installment! Please note the rating change and the new tags. This one ain't for kids!

The day after the baby shower, Jughead arrived home from his afternoon at the Wyrm with the serpents to find Jellybean on her way out of the house. 

“I’m going to work, Alice is at Thistlehouse and there’s leftover tuna bake in the fridge.” She opened the front door. “Oh, and Betty’s upstairs in my bathtub.” She flew out the door as Jughead’s brain caught up with her words.

“She’s what?” He roared after his sister, but she was gone. 

Half an hour later he was in their bedroom working on his new novel when he heard her calling out. 

“JB? … Jellybean?”

He sighed and pushed the chair back, padding down the hall to the guest bathroom.

“Betty? Are you okay?”

“Jughead? Where’s JB?”

“She went to work.”

“Oh.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just finished my book and I was going to ask JB to bring me another one. Hey, could you do it? It’s downstairs in my bag.”

“You want me to come in there to give you a book?” 

“Yes.”

“You’re in the tub.”

“I’m aware,” she said drily.

“Betts, I don’t think…”

“Jug, you’ve seen it all before.”

“That’s not really the point.”

He heard her exasperated sigh and a slight splash of the bath water. 

“Okay, Jughead, if you’re not going to bring me a book, then you’ll need to tell me a story. I’m not finished my bath but I  _ have  _ finished my book so I’m bored.”

“Why don’t we just… catch up.” The words sounded lame as they left his lips and her pause had him berating himself for being so stupid.

“Okay,” she said eventually.

“Okay?”

“Yes. Just… crack the door open a little so the sound carries easier.”

He slid down the wall, stretching his legs out in front of him as he reached up and twisted the door handle, opening the door an inch.

“So…” Betty began, “JB let slip that you’re with someone.”

“I was. It’s over.”

“Oh. Sorry. JB made it sound like… well, anyway, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t right to begin with.” As he said the words he found that he really meant it. Having Betty so close was really doing a number on him, and he was realising how  _ wrong  _ everything had been since their break up. “Have you been dating anyone?”

“Not really. Nobody serious.”

Silence fell for a brief moment before he spoke again.

“I really don’t know anything you’ve been doing for the last seven years. I asked everyone not to talk about you. It was too…”

“Painful,” she finished for him. “I did the same thing. I couldn’t bear to even hear your name.” Her voice had dropped a little and he nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. It seemed their heartache was shared, thought he’d always known deep down that it was.

“I lied to you the other day” she said softly, the water sloshing in the tub as she moved, “when I mentioned your book. I didn’t mean The Boy in the River. I was talking about Frosty Pyjamas.”

His heart skipped a beat as he processed her words. “You found it? How?”

“I saw it in a little bookstore in Georgetown last month. The title screamed out to me, and as soon as I read the first page... I knew for sure it was yours.”

“Did you like it?” His chest ached with the anxiety of knowing she’d read everything he’d written about her, desperate to know whether she approved, whether she understood everything he was trying to say in the prose. 

“How could I not like it? It was you. It was  _ us _ . On every page. It's amazing work, Jug.”

His chest lightened and he felt warm at her reverent tone. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“I’m proud of you.” The words were almost whispered but they hit him as clearly as if she was right next to him. 

“Thanks, Betts.” He coughed awkwardly, hiding the slight crack in his voice. “So, uh… were you surprised when Kevin told you about the baby?”

“I guess kind of? I mean, it makes sense, but I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s right for them though.”

“Yeah. I’m glad they’re happy.”

“Me too.” She paused and he waited her out, knowing, even after years apart, that she was stewing over something. “Hey, Jug? Are  _ you _ happy? Like, is your life happy?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “Are you?”

“I don’t think I am.” She took a deep breath and the water sloshed lightly again. “I have the job I worked towards for years, I have a nice one bedroom apartment, the money is good, mom is okay, Polly’s in a good place… but something is missing.”

He could picture the way she would be gnawing on her bottom lip, the left side drawn in between her teeth. He wished he could see her. The conversation felt like one they should be having face to face. 

“Betts…”

“I’m getting out of the tub, Jug. Just… don’t go.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” 

He listened to the sounds of the bath draining, the light squeak of the towel rail, Betty’s feet padding on the tiles and the unmistakable snap of a bra strap as she dressed. When she came out of the bathroom she was in denim cutoffs and a lavender tank top, barefoot with her hair piled in a bun on top of her head, damp tendrils framing her face and falling on her neck. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the bath and she’d never looked more beautiful to him. 

She slid down the wall next to him and stretched her legs out and he was struck by how much shorter she was, her feet ending a good few inches before his. 

“You know, I had to pass a polygraph to get into the FBI. They asked if I’d ever committed a crime and I said no. I got the job, so it must have been a convincing lie.” Her words were solemn, her tone a little sad and again he was hit with a wave of nostalgia for the people they used to be. 

“And you feel guilty about it.”

“Every day I walk into that building and I feel like a fraud.” She sighed heavily and it felt like the sound fell directly into his gut. “I didn’t want a stupid teenage mistake to ruin my life and I was so careful not to get pregnant like my mom and Polly did that I didn’t realise that everything else we were doing was ruining me in other ways. All those mysteries brought me to the FBI, they honed my skills... but they also messed up my head.”

“I’m sorry, Betty. You deserve so much better.” He turned his head and found her eyes on him, wide and green and sparkling. He could drown in the depth of them, the emerald drawing him in like hypnosis.

Betty, for her part, was feeling the same way. There was a storm swirling in Jughead’s eyes and she wanted to drown herself in it. She was unavoidably drawn to him, and had been since the minute she’d spotted his side profile through the window of Pop’s when she’d arrived in town. He was still so handsome, deliciously so, and the force of six years of missing him was hitting her all at once. 

Before she knew what was happening, tears were spilling down her cheeks and she was heaving, her body wracked with violent sobs. 

Jughead gathered her into his arms, dragging her into his lap and holding her tight against his chest. 

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he said into her hair. “You’re okay, baby.” The endearment slipped out without his notice, but Betty looked up at him, her eyes huge, her cheeks wet, her lips parted so invitingly that he had the impulse to kiss her. 

He brushed his mouth over hers gently, a soft touch that had them both gasping at the tenderness before diving in with more intensity, a fierce passion erupting between them. The result of six years of distance and three days of sexual tension was bubbling over as Betty shifted to straddle Jughead’s lap, their lips fused together and her hands in his hair. 

“Oh  _ god _ ,” Betty groaned as Jughead began to trail kisses along her jawline, nipping gently before moving to her neck and suckling at her pulse point, drawing a loud moan from her. “ _ Jug _ .”

“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” Jughead growled, his teeth scraping over her skin and his tongue darting out to taste her. He ran his hands down her back, using his grip on her to pull her even closer, grinding up into her and relishing the gasp she let out. 

He was impossibly hard, and every rock of her core against his erection was driving him to madness. She was utterly delicious, her skin flushed with arousal, her body moulding to his touch. 

“Wait, Jug, wait,” she said breathlessly, pulling away slightly and framing his face with her hands. They were both breathing heavily and he searched her eyes, looking for indecision, looking for what had made her pull away. “Are we really doing this?” she asked.

He almost laughed. If only she knew how desperate he was for her, how much he’d been longing for her. But his lust-addled brain was struggling to come up with words. “I want this, Betty. I want you.”

“Should we talk about it? About what this means?”

“I miss you, Betts. I’ve been missing you for six years.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “This isn't about…  _ this _ ,” he said, gesturing in the general direction of their groins, which were still pressed together, “it’s about  _ you _ . It’s about the fact that nothing in my life has felt right since we split. It’s about the fact that we always find our way back to each other.”

“Jughead…” she stroked his cheek, her thumb caressing his skin gently, “you always did have a knack for saying exactly what I was thinking.” 

He watched a smile spread across her face and he couldn’t help the answering grin that stretched across his own as he leaned in to kiss her again. This one was softer, slower, but quickly heated up again and before long they were kissing feverishly, their hips rocking against one another.

“I need you,” Betty whimpered, her teeth grazing his earlobe, causing his eyes to roll back in his head at the onslaught of sensation.

“Not yet,” he replied with a growl, “let me taste you.”

“ _ Fuck, _ yes.” Her hips bucked into his and he let out another low groan. 

“Bedroom,” he rasped, “now.”

A frantic tangle of limbs and shedding of clothes followed, and Jughead found himself on their bed between Betty’s legs, lapping at her like a man starved, worshipping her body with his tongue and fingers as she writhed and moaned under his ministrations.

“Please, Jug, I need to feel you.  _ Please _ ,” she begged breathlessly, her hips bucking.

“Not yet. Come for me, baby,” he breathed against her, suckling at her clit with renewed vigour.

“I want to come with you inside me.”

“You will,” he promised, crooking his fingers and stroking her g-spot as he drew circles on her clit with his tongue. He continued working her to fever pitch, until she crashed over the edge with a gasp of his name and a low cry from deep in her throat. 

“Inside me.  _ Now _ ,” she demanded, fisting her hands in his hair and tugging until he crawled up her body, worshipping her with kisses as he did so. 

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he groaned, relishing in the twitching of her abdominals as his lips ghosted over her skin. 

“Jug. If you don’t fuck me right now, I’m going to scream.”

“You’re going to scream anyway,” he said with a cheeky grin, positioning himself at her entrance and sliding in torturously slowly until he was buried to the hilt. 

They groaned in unison as they were finally joined, their eyes closed in bliss, Betty still panting from her orgasm. 

“Jug, you feel so good,” Betty breathed, “I’ve missed you so much.”

Jughead responded by drawing out of her and thrusting back in, causing Betty’s eyes to roll back in her head as his the base of his cock ground against her clit. He thrust slowly, not rushing toward orgasm, just reacquainting himself with her body. It wasn’t enough for her though and she rolled them over so she was straddling him, his thick length still inside her, slipping deeper with the change of position. 

“Fuck,” she moaned as she rocked her hips against him, building up a rhythm she remembered as if they’d done this only yesterday, rather than six years earlier. 

“Betty,” Jughead gasped desperately, his hips moving almost without conscious thought, muscle memory taking over. His body still remembered how to make love to the incredible woman on top of him, even if his mind felt like he was experiencing it all for the first time. 

“I’m close, oh  _ god _ , come with me, Jug,” Betty said breathlessly, tightening her grip on his hair as she tipped over the edge. She threw her head back as her body tensed and then released, trembling and shaking on top of him as he hit his own climax and released into her with a guttural groan. 

“Fuck, I love you,” he gasped as they collapsed together, sweaty and sticky and sated. Betty froze in his arms and he felt himself tense. “Shit. That’s not - I didn’t mean…” he trailed off, not sure what to say. 

“It’s okay, Jug. I know it’s kind of like a reflex.”

He was silent for a minute. “It wasn’t a reflex. I’ve never… I’ve only ever said that to you. So I guess, maybe it  _ was  _ a reflex? Because it’s you and it’s me and my brain just supplied it, like muscle memory, I guess?”

“Jug, you’re rambling.” She was chuckling, but when she turned her face up to him, her expression was serious. “You’ve really never said it to anyone else?”

“No. I haven’t felt it for anyone else.”

She was silent for a long moment before… “neither have I.”

He took in a deep breath, pulling her closer and pressing his lips to hers. “I love you, Betty Cooper. It’s only ever been you.”

“I love you too, Juggie. I never stopped.”

… 

They were recovering from their second round (quieter because Alice had come home and gone to bed an hour earlier) when the front door closed and Jellybean’s footsteps sounded on the stairs. 

“Fuck,” Betty hissed, “my stuff is still in her bathroom! She’s going to know I’m still here.”

It was only a minute or two later that the knock sounded on their bedroom door. “Jug? Are you still up? Betty left all her stuff here, did you say something to her?” 

A silent conversation was held by the occupants of the bed, causing Jellybean to knock again.

“I’m still here, JB,” Betty called. “Give us a minute and we’ll explain.”

“Oh my god, no, you  _ really _ don’t need to explain,” Jellybean replied, her tone slightly shrill. It was impossible to tell whether it was excitement or disgust. 

“Just, give us a second,  _ please _ ?” Jughead asked, climbing out of bed and reaching for his clothes. Betty followed suit and a minute later they opened the door to Jellybean, gesturing for her to come downstairs with them so they could talk without waking Alice.

“She sleeps like a log, nothing will get through to her,” Jellybean grumbled, but padded down the stairs after them.

“We were…”

“I know what you were doing,” Jellybean interrupted her brother, “ _ please  _ do not go into details.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Jughead said with a roll of his eyes. “I was going to say that we were catching up. And it… led somewhere.”

“Oh, I know exactly where it led,” Jellybean said with a light shudder. “I heard a lot of things that I pretended not to when I was a kid, but I know better now and I do  _ not  _ need to think about it.” She smiled then. “However, that aside, I’m glad you guys are back together.”

“Oh, we’re not…” Betty hastened to explain and then stopped. “We haven’t actually got to talking about that yet. About what comes next.” 

“Might I suggest you do that before you… do anything else?”

“You’re right,” Betty said, laying her hand on Jughead's back. “We do need to talk.” 

He turned toward her, meeting her gaze, having another silent conversation with their eyes. 

“You two are disgustingly adorable,” Jellybean said with a grin. “I’m going to leave you to talk. Please don’t let me hear anything through the wall tonight, I beg you.” She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned back to them. “Listen, I’ve watched you both be miserable for years. Please think this through seriously, because I can’t handle seeing either of you in that much pain again. And neither can Alice.” She looked pointedly at Betty who nodded.

“Thanks JB. We’ll, uh… we’ll talk.”

“See you in the morning,” the younger Jones said, heading upstairs to bed. 

Betty turned to Jughead, who pulled her into his arms, unable to spend even a minute not touching her after everything they’d been through. 

“She’s right, and we do need to talk but… I’m wiped out. Should we talk in the morning?”

“Sounds like a perfect plan to me.”

… 

When Betty woke in her childhood bedroom the next morning, she had perfect clarity of the night before and sleepily reached out for Jughead, finding the bed empty and the sheets cold.

“I’m here,” he said softly from the window seat, and then she registered the tapping of his fingers on his laptop keyboard. She rolled over to face him, smiling at the familiar sight, despite it being a long time since she’d last witnessed it. 

“You still don’t sleep well?” she asked and he shook his head. His bouts of insomnia were still frequent and frustrating. In fact, the last time he’d truly slept well was in that same bed with that same hitchcock blonde. 

“Not so much. But I’ve suddenly got a lot to write about.” He grinned happily and she returned it, the undertone of  _ you inspire me _ sending tingles down her spine. 

“Come back to bed,” she said in a low voice, and he looked torn for a brief moment before she chuckled. “Finish what you're working on. I’m not going anywhere.” 

She stretched languidly, the covers slipping down her body and exposing her breasts. Jughead’s eyes darkened as he studied her form. “You’re teasing me, Betty.”

“Am I?” she asked cheekily. 

“You know you are,” he growled, snapping his laptop closed and taking the two strides to the bed, hovering over her to press a kiss to her smiling mouth. 

.

After an almost-silent round of lovemaking, they laid contentedly in bed together, firing questions back and forth, reacquainting themselves with one another. 

“Is your favourite colour still purple?”

“Are brownies still your favourite dessert?”

“Do you still sleep with socks on?”

“Do you still chew on the ice cubes from your drinks?”

“Do you still read James Patterson?”

“Do you still set seven hundred alarms to get up in the morning?”

“Is NCIS still your favourite show?”

“Are you still washing your hair with 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner?”

The last question had made him laugh loudly, and her heart had soared at the sound. After that, they devolved into more diverse subjects. Betty told him about the three months she tried to be a vegetarian and he looked horrified at the concept of no burgers or hotdogs or pepperoni pizza. In turn, he told her about his newfound love for empanadas, thanks to the empanada place across the street from his first Manhattan apartment in Harlem. She gave him descriptions of her colleagues and how she sometimes feels lonely without any true friends in D.C., and he admitted to feeling the same in New York. 

After hearing both Alice and JB leave the house for work, Betty braved the kitchen and made them some breakfast sandwiches and coffee, grabbing a carton of juice and a bag of pretzels to accompany them and balanced the loot precariously in her hands as she made her way back upstairs to their room. 

“Where were we?” Jughead asked once he’d polished off his food.

“It was my turn,” Betty replied. He watched her think about what to ask and saw the dark cloud pass over her face before she schooled her expression into a more neutral one. “Do you still smoke?”

He understood the dark cloud then. The only time she’d seen him smoke was at his father’s funeral. She didn’t know the how and the why of his smoking habit.

“No. I started not long after we broke up, but I gave up two years ago. Jessica didn’t like me smoking.”

She tensed a little at the way he casually dropped Jessica’s name into the conversation and he tightened his arm around her shoulders in response. 

“She’s the girl you brought here this week?”

“Yeah.” He sighed heavily. “She didn’t even stay the first night. We broke up right after dinner and she left straight away. Took the rental car back to the city.”

“You were together two years?”

“Mm hm,” he hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of Betty’s head. 

“You don’t have to tell me, but…” she trailed off and he knew what she was asking. She wanted to hear their story. She wanted to know why he’d been with someone he didn’t love for two years. 

“Do you want to know?” He repositioned himself so he could see her, her expression cautious and vulnerable as she looked at him, twisting her hands in the sheets covering their bodies. She nodded, and he took her hands, smoothing her fingers away from her palms. He’d already noticed that she still had deep ridges there, her old coping mechanism still prevalent in her current life.

“I’ve only ever loved  _ you _ , Betts, but I got pretty lonely. When I first got to New York I was working in a bar, waiting to finish the book so I could start making money as a real writer, hoping that someone would publish me. Jessica worked at the bar too and we became friends. She was a sculptor, trying to make a living at her art like I was and we bonded over it. For a year, we were just friends, nothing more.

“But I’m jumping ahead. Let me… okay, so after I finished college, I realised I hadn’t dated anyone, and I started asking myself why that was. I thought it was because of you, and I guess in a way, it kind of was, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised it was because I hadn’t  _ wanted  _ to. And I couldn’t figure that out. I was a college guy who didn’t want to have sex. I thought something was wrong with me. So I started googling. Turns out, it’s more common than I realised.” 

He sucked in a breath, watching the way she was studying him, her full attention on his face, on the words he was saying. No one had ever looked at him like that but her. Open, loving, trusting. Listening  _ and  _ hearing. He couldn’t help smiling at her.

“I’m demisexual, Betts.”

Her expression changed, thoughtful for a moment as she remembered what she knew about that term, and then understanding when the information came to mind. 

“I know a little about it,” she said, “but tell me in your words.” She squeezed his hand and he’d never felt more comfortable with another human in his entire life. 

“I don’t feel sexual attraction unless I’ve made an emotional connection with the person. It’s why it had only ever been you. Because we were emotionally connected  _ long  _ before we had a physical relationship. You were, and still are, the person I am most myself with.” He grinned. “It doesn’t hurt that you’re absolutely stunning.”

She rolled her eyes, but the blush in her cheeks told him she was pleased with his words. 

“Anyway, I got to know Jessica as colleagues and then friends, and she was really the only person I had to talk to in the city. So when she kissed me out of the blue, it didn’t feel strange or unwelcome. I’d got used to her company and I felt comfortable with her, so we got together. 

“But I think… well, I didn’t love her. I wanted to, but I just didn’t. But it was comfortable and having someone was better than having no one, and I know that makes me an asshole because it meant more to her than it did to me and I fucking knew it, but I was just…”

“Broken,” Betty breathes and he nods, feeling his eyes stinging as if he was about to start crying. She crawls into his lap, wrapping herself around him. “You’re not an asshole, Juggie. You were just treading water. I’ve been doing the same thing.”

“Were you in a loveless relationship for two years too?” he jokes weakly. 

“No. But I’ve felt like I was leading people on. I haven’t really been with anyone serious. There was one guy who asked me to move in with him, and it was only after I’d said yes that I realised I didn’t see a future with him. I had to tell him I’d changed my mind. We broke up in the same conversation. I think subconsciously I knew I was still holding onto you, and to us, but I couldn’t admit it to myself.” She laughed humorlessly then. “One guy broke up with me last year after I said your name in my sleep.”

“Jessica told me I’ve been saying yours in my sleep too,” Jughead said in wonder; his brain was starting to short-circuit at how in-sync they still were after all that time. 

“We’re hopeless,” Betty laughed. She leaned in to press her lips to his, and it wasn’t long before they were sufficiently distracted again, but were interrupted by the ringing of Betty’s phone. 

“Oh, no,” she said, seeing Cheryl’s name on the screen, “I’m really going to get it now. Hi Cher!”

“Betty Cooper, where the hell are you and why didn’t you come home last night?”

“I’m at my mom’s.”

“With Jughead?”

“... yes?”

“Betty! I’m going to need details.”

“Later, Cheryl. I’m kind of… busy right now.”

“ _ Getting  _ busy, you mean,” Cheryl cackled.

“Hanging up now.”

“Practice safe s--”

Betty hung up before Cheryl could finish her sentence. She stroked Jughead’s face and kissed him gently. “You know, we haven’t really talked about what’s next. We promised JB we would, and we have talked but…”

“...we live in different cities and this” he gestured around them “is only for now?”

“Exactly. We need to figure some stuff out, I guess.” 

“I dont,” he said with conviction. “I want to be with you and I will do whatever it takes to make it work.”

“Me too,” she replied with a grin. “I want to be with you. Whatever it takes. But  _ how _ are we going to make this work, Jug? How are we going to keep ourselves from falling into the same trap that we did in college?”

“That’s what is scaring me. I don’t want to set us up to fail.”

“Jug…” she cocked her head at him and smiled. “we’re not going to fail. Not this time. But we need to make sure that we’re on the same page.”

“Are you about to tell me we need to communicate?”

“Well I don’t need to now,” Betty quipped with a grin, pressing her lips to his briefly. “But yes, communication is key. I know it sounds stupid and cliche, but if we’re going to make it this time we have to communicate.”

“It’s not stupid, and you’re right.” He settled back against the headboard and watched as Betty settled herself cross-legged facing him, wrapping a blanket around herself. “We should probably put some kind of plan in place.”

“Agreed.” She reached out to him, laying her hand on his leg, both of them wanting the physical connection. “So, where do we start? Phone calls every day?”

“Yes, definitely. I need to hear your voice every day. And facetime at least once a week.”

“Facetime every day if we have the time. Even if we only manage a five minute phone call, it’s important to me that I speak to you every day, whether it’s on FaceTime or just a normal call. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Jughead nodded. “I’m on board with that.”

“What’s important to you?” Betty asked him, noting his pensive expression.

“I think… it’s important to me that we make time to visit regularly. So I guess figuring out the logistics of that, financially and otherwise.”

“Okay.” She nodded and he could see her thinking it over. “I have vacation days I can use strategically and we can take turns visiting so there’s the shared responsibility of travel and finances. It’s only three hours between DC and New York, so it should be easier than Iowa to Connecticut.”

“It’s even quicker on the bike,” Jughead noted and Betty nodded. 

“So… we’re going to do this?”

“Yeah. We’re going to do this. I want nothing more than to be with you forever. I love you, Betty Cooper.”

“I love you too, Jughead Jones.”

  
  


**Six months later**

Six months had passed by in a flash. Betty and Jughead had travelled back and forth once a month, taking turns to travel between DC and Riverdale. 

A month after the baby shower, Jughead had decided to move back to Riverdale full time, working on his second novel and picking up shifts as a substitute teacher at Riverdale High. His novel had been completed a month earlier and he had also obtained a full time role as an English teacher around the same time. He was settling happily into life in Riverdale - living in the apartment above the Whyte Wyrm that he’d been left in FP’s will, spending time with Fangs, Kevin, Toni and their baby girl, Ellen. He was writing and working and finally feeling settled for the first time since he’d lived with Betty at the Cooper house during high school. And she was the only thing missing now.

It was a Thursday when he finally found a solution that could bring her home to Riverdale, and the day dragged on as he waited to finish school to facetime her and tell her about it. 

She was tired when she answered, he could hear it in her voice and see it written all over her face. “Hey, Jug.”

“Hi, baby. You okay?”

“Long day. How was yours?”

“It was good, actually.” A wave of anxiety came over him as he decided to bite the bullet and leap right in “I have an idea I want to run by you.” He was chewing on his thumbnail nervously, hoping she’d be open to what he was about to broach.

“Oh?” She asked teasingly. “What idea is that?”

“I know we haven’t really talked much about any long term plans, but I’ve identified a potential job opportunity in Riverdale that I thought you might be interested in.”

“You found me a job?”

“You don’t have to take it. I’m not pressuring you to make any decisions, I just wanted to talk about it with you in case it’s something you want. I know you’re not happy with your job now and I wanted to help.”

“You’re sweet to be thinking about this, Jug. Tell me what you’re planning.” She settled onto the couch and he took in the familiar background of her apartment. He could see their prom picture framed on the wall behind her and it made his heart skip. “Jug?” she asked, prompting him again, shaking him out of his reverie.

“Sorry. Okay, so the guidance counsellor position at Riverdale high has been vacant for two months now. They keep bringing in temps but they haven’t found someone permanent yet. I wondered, what with your psych background and your profiling experience, if it might be something you’d like? I think you’d be good with the kids and you’d still get to use your college degree and you wouldn’t have to feel guilty about going to work every day.” He was nervous when he finished explaining to her, hoping he wasn’t overstepping, or pressuring her in any way. He desperately wanted her to move back to Riverdale with him, he wanted to have her living with him in his apartment above the White Wyrm. Her sporadic visits to town had been enough to give him a glimpse into what their domestic lives could be like. He loved seeing her padding around the apartment barefoot and in his T-shirt. He loved watching her move around his space, singing as she cooked and sneaking into the shower with him and napping in his bed while he wrote. 

“Yes.” 

“Yes?” He wasn’t sure exactly what she was agreeing to. Did she mean that she wanted the job? She grinned and some of the pressure inside him lessened.

“Yes, Jug. That sounds like exactly the right job for me. I’m going to log on to the Riverdale board of Education website now to find out how to apply.”

“Really? You’re really into this idea?”

“Yes, Jug! I want to be with you. It’s been a long six months and I don’t want us to keep travelling back and forth. I want to be  _ with _ you.”

“But the FBI…”

“I’ve been feeling out of place here since my very first day, you know that. It’s time for me to prioritise  _ us. _ ”

“I love you so much, Betts.”

“I know. Only someone who loves me this much would have found me a whole ass job.” She grinned at him through the screen and he wanted so much to hug her and kiss her smiling lips. 

“I can’t wait for you to be here, Betts.”

“Me too, Juggie. Me too.” 

“Who would ever have thought, seven years ago when we left for college, that our lives would have gone in the direction they did? And that we’d still find our way back to one another.”

“I’ll always find my way back to you, Jug. You’re all I’ve ever needed, and I don’t intend for that to change. We have a big future, and I can’t wait for it to start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I started this when we only had the tiniest amount of post time-jump detail, and then tried to adapt to make it work every time we got new info, but for the most part, I just wanted a happy Bughead ending, and I hope you're satisfied with what I've delivered.


End file.
